


a powerful heartbeat

by artisttsitra03



Series: my heartbeat [3]
Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Anger, Death Threats, F/F, Flashbacks, Killing, Mental Health Issues, Relationship(s), idk how to tag, it's a weird friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 19:43:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4577457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artisttsitra03/pseuds/artisttsitra03
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She can hear Asuka mutter faint curses. “Shut your goddamn mouth four-eyes,” she spits, her voice cold as always.</p><p>Mari’s grin widens as she shrugs the comment off. “Four eyes? Now that’s dull Princess,” she says through a chuckle. “Just like your personality,” Mari adds under her breath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a powerful heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a few weeks ago, & I don't if the result of it is alright, I didn't do much editing on this either :\
> 
> also, this takes place RIGHT after the Third Impact (Evangelion 2.0)

_Father, please, why are you doing this? Why are you killing her, that’s Asuka! Please stop, stop this!_

Asuka’s body jerks, her eyes slow to open. She winces at the movement of her neck, a faint tingle shooting throughout her body. Shinji’s voice echoes in her head, his goddamn annoying voice. Gritting her teeth, Asuka raises her head off the pillow and leans forward, absently looking around the room. It’s an unfamiliar setting, but at the same time it’s slightly familiar because it’s a hospital room.

            What’s unsettling to her, is that Asuka can feel a heavy and uncomfortable feeling in the air, a feeling that’s putting her on edge. It has a dark atmosphere and the silence in the room makes it even worse, the only sound she can hear; her heart rate monitor.

            Glancing over at it, Asuka’s eyes sink at the movement of her heartbeat, watching as flat line dances up and down across the screen, watching as her heartbeat increases as frustration grows inside her. She grits her teeth together as the short beeps from the monitor echoes inside her eardrums.

            Closing her eyes for a split second, she lets her mind run loose, but there’s a problem; her thoughts are fuzzy, especially her memories. Asuka groans loudly, opening her eyes to only feel the pain shoot through her body once again.

            _Tch._

            Leaning backwards, she feels her head sink into her pillow, her eyes now glued upwards at the ceiling. Releasing a heavy breath, she closes her eyes, trying to let the pain die away, but it doesn’t work. She desperately begins to claw through her head, she can imagine – she can feel her finger nails digging into her scalp, pushing herself to remember anything.

            Immediately, the door to her room swings open and Asuka literally jumps out of her skin.

            “As I was saying, it’s been eight days since we’ve taken her out of cryosleep and so far, everything is going as expected. The medicine we’ve applied to her body seems to be reacting well, and the result is her healing rate increasing by twenty-four percent. As you can see on these charts, it shows signs of a stable condition. The damage that the Angel did inside her plug is reducing rapidly, so she should be-“

            Asuka’s eyebrows perch up as the voice comes to a halt, three bodies standing at the edge of her bed, their eyes fixed on her.

            There’s a doctor, he looks like a useless idiot.

            There’s Misato, she looks a bit different, maybe she’s been drinking a bit too much?

            Then there’s a brunette that catches Asuka’s eyes. She’s grinning at Asuka, such a wide grin.

            She carefully watches as the brunette squeezes through the doctor and Misato, her feet planting down on the floor beside her bed, her eyes are beaming down at Asuka. She lets out a soft laugh, her grin widening as she tips the frame of her glasses back onto her nose. “This is a sight for sore eyes, my partner finally waking up makes things exciting!” The red frames grabs Asuka’s attention; a pair of glasses – she hasn’t seen a pair of them in a long time.

            Quickly turning her head, Asuka narrows her eyes and meets Misato’s, who has a weak expression, and that’s the only reaction she needs.

            “Mar-“ Misato begins, exhaling heavily.

            “Hold the fuck up, what the hell does she mean by her partner?” Misato runs a hand down her face, her response is nothing but silence. Asuka can’t help but let out a forced laugh. “You have got to be kidding me, what the hell is even happening? I wake up in a hospital bed with my body weak like shit, and the next thing I know, is some weird ass girl saying I’m her partner.” She exclaims, wincing with her eyes as the pain shoots through her head.

            The brunette standing beside the bed laughs again and Asuka hisses at her.

            Misato holds her hands up, trying to settle down the mood, but it actually just makes Asuka groan aloud. “It’s reasonable that you don’t remember anything too well at the moment, you’re still in a weak condition. We put you in quarantine and cryosleep after an Angel attack.” She states, her voice barely shaking. “Bear with us for now, we’ll explain everything in a little while, just take it easy for now. And you,” she turns her head towards the brunette, “you stop it damnit.”

            Asuka watches as the brunette softly smirks, shrugging her shoulders as she ignores Misato. Plopping into the seat by the bed, she crosses her legs, sitting so casually.

            _Tch._

            Sighing, Misato turns away from her and lowers her head as she exchanges whispers to the doctor.

            _That’s Asuka damnit!_

            Her hands immediately grab the railing to her bed, her grips are so weak. She grits her teeth, feeling pain shoot through her body again.

            _Stop killing her, stop it father, please! EVA 01, please stop, stop! Asuka’s still in there, what are you doing?_

            Asuka’s eyes widen, her hands quickly grasping the sides of her head. She brings her legs inwards to her chest, shutting her eyes closed. “Get out of my head, get out,” she repeats, her breaths stutter when she hears her own voice shake.

            _What’s that sound? No, it can’t be, no, don’t!_

           “I don’t want to hear you anymore, get out!” Asuka screams, the sound echoing through the room.

            There’s seconds of silence in the room and minutes begin to drop in. Faint voices, faint memories begin to slowly flood into her head, too much for her to handle. Though, the silence in the room helps her mind settle down, it’s able to calm her nerves down as Shinji’s echoing voice dies away. Asuka’s breathing smoothens out, her body beginning to relax again.

            Opening her eyes, she takes her hands off the sides of her head, stretching her legs out on the bed. Blinking several times, she lets the setting of the room focus back into her eyes, her head raising to look around only to find Misato and the doctor gone, though the brunette continues to sit in the seat beside her.

            Her legs are still crossed over each other, though she’s leaning further back into the seat. Her hands lay resting on her lap, her fingers twirling around each other in idle circles, a quiet sound coming from the back of her throat – it must be a hum. Asuka doesn’t realize how long she’s been staring at her until their eyes meet and the sound abruptly stops. There’s a grin of her face and Asuka can’t look away from it. “You really are an exciting person,” she gently says, her grin widening.

            “You never told me who the hell you are,” Asuka spits, gathering her thoughts back together. Looking away, she forces a thick swallow down her throat, shaking her head with a faint surprised expression.

            “And that’s because there was never a reason to tell you, besides you never seemed to be interested.” The girl pauses, biting her lip nervously. “I’m Mari, at your very service.” Mari greets with a slight wave from her right hand.

            _Tch._

            Asuka bites the edges of her lips and narrows her eyes at her. Minutes into waking up and she’s already meeting another pathetic stranger.

            Mari.

            The name even sounds strange on the tip of her tongue, and she doesn’t like it. “Am I supposed to be interested in you?” She asks, though she quickly creases her eyebrows once she realizes just how bizarre that must have sounded.

            Mari softly laughs, the sound of it makes Asuka irritated. “I mean, you can be if you want to, I wouldn’t mind it. I’m just saying, we’re complete strangers and we literally met minutes ago, not to mention that we’re partners as well.”

            Groaning, Asuka leans her head back into the bed, her eyes fixed back onto the ceiling again. It’s such a dull color to a sad ceiling. “And just why the hell are we partners? Please do tell me, I would love to know because after years of piloting without a partner, just why do I have a partner now?” She asks.

            She hears tapping, turning her head to find Mari’s finger tapping against her chin, her teeth chewing on her bottom lip. “Okay, truth to be told, we’re actually not partners. But because we’re the only two pilots left on this ship, I mean, why not be partners then? It’s better than working alone I’ll say, especially everything we’ve both been through. I consider us partners even if we’re not partners, and because we’re partners, we partners have to stick with each other, right partner?” She says, a sly smirk on her face, her shoulders shrugging.

            Stupid, idiotic, dumb, and completely pathetic.

            _Tch._

            Asuka literally felt her brain die inside her head with the reply from Mari, her head sinking in a pool of senselessness.

            _Oh my god, I’m literally sitting beside the dumbest person that lives._

            She doesn’t say anything in response to Mari, nothing comes out of her mouth. Exhaling a quiet breath through her nose, she begins to observe Mari at a short distance in the corner of her eyes. She’s sitting there quietly, her legs still crossed over each other, maybe flipped, her foot dancing around wildly to the sound of her melody. Her elbow is resting on her knee, puncturing into it as her chin is resting on her palm, Mari’s head turned in the opposite direction, her eyes glued to the wall across from Asuka.

            At a quick glance, Mari doesn’t look like a threat. To all honesty, she doesn’t look like she’s capable of doing anything harmful or dangerous, all she has are her pathetic and childish remarks, which adds to the list of what Asuka can’t serious about her. Though, lessons from the past, she understood that appearances were a completely different feature compared to someone’s mind. She may not know anything – a single thing about Mari, but she knows well enough that because she’s where she is, she’s capable of being dangerous. It’s as if Mari wears a mask, a mask for protection, a mask to hide herself, or maybe it’s actually who she is, who knows? But a mask is a mask, and anyone wearing one can’t hide from Asuka because she definitely knows what wearing feels like. Though, with Mari, it felt like she could puncture through Asuka’s mask, could see and feel everything she was feeling, and the thought of Mari seeing Asuka made her tremble.

            She watched as Mari repositioned her glasses back onto her nose, quickly clearing her throat as she moved onto another hum.

            Anything that she does, that she did was if it was a joke. In the first minutes of meeting her, Asuka realizes that Mari doesn’t take anything serious, nothing yet. And with that, it makes her hate her even more, and for once in her life, Asuka feels threatened, threatened by the simple pathetic stranger sitting beside her. She clenches her hands as she lowers her breathing, she can feel a growl growing in the back of her throat. She doesn’t like this at all, she’s not enjoying this at all.

            At the same time, when Mari turns her head back towards Asuka, Asuka turns her head towards the wall where Mari was looking, their eyes barely meeting each other’s.

            “Wearing glasses in this time of life is a bit stupid,” Asuka states, surprised at herself, surprised that she would start a conversation so randomly. Biting the end of her tongue she says, “You’re the only four-eyes I know.” She didn’t want to mention the other two people, discarding them from thought.

            Mari lets out a soft laugh, switching her legs as she crosses them once again. “I enjoy wearing them, they’re quite important to me.”

            “Of course they are, they’re your glasses, and otherwise you wouldn’t be able to see any shit around you. You should go ahead and get contacts before you break them, piloting an EVA will definitely crack them.” She hears Mari laugh again.

            Asuka feels a grunt from her chest as she looks up at the ceiling.

            _What the hell am I doing?_

            “You know, I noticed that ordering people around seems to be your forte, you enjoy doing it?” She asks. The quick change of the conversation catches Asuka off guard.

            Opening her mouth, she narrows her eyes at Mari who has a grin on her lips, she’s enjoying every second of this. “No I don’t, why would you say that about me?” She spits.

            “Hmmhm, it’s simple, you enjoy doing it. It’s as if you’re a queen sitting on your throne, throwing orders around at little peasants, you’ve never noticed? But wait, you’re still a teenager, the title queen doesn’t suit you.” Mari says, shrugging her shoulders. “That gives me an idea for something,” she mutters under her breath.

            “What’d you say?” Asuka snaps.

            “Nothing nothing, you just look like a queen laying on a throne which is your bed, ordering peasants around.” Mari quickly replies.

            “Oh, now that’s total bullshit. Everything and everyone is fucking pathetic, it’s not my fault they aren’t capable of anything.” Asuka hisses.

            “I’m not saying you want to have power, I’m implying that you want acceptance, ordering people around just seems to be the way you’re showing it.” She states, her eyes looking directly at Asuka.

            She has to bite on her tongue, bite on her lip, and grit her teeth. “I don’t want acceptance, you don’t know what I want, and don’t even think that I’m going to tell you because you’re my ‘partner’. We don’t even know each other, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”

            Their eyes meet, staring deeply into each other’s eyes with unknown determination running through their veins. Minutes pass and neither of them pull away until Mari turns her head, releasing a heavy sigh.

            _Tch._

            Asuka can feel a bright shine in her eyes with a small hint of delightful victory.

            All of this small talk and meaningless conversations begins to drive Asuka on edge. But at the same time, it makes her want more information about this ‘partner’ of hers, to know her flaws, to know her mistakes, to know her past, to know her more than any person she knows. Asuka bites down hard onto her tongue, it’s helping her keep a laugh from escaping her throat. Of all people in her life, she wants to know this person – Mari?

            She sees Mari smirk as she uncrosses her legs. “I don’t mind you being curious about me, I’m sure there’s plenty of things you want to know. I’ve had plenty of time to be able to get to know you, everything about you.” Her voice grows quieter, almost into a whisper. “Like your actions, your education, your personality, your past,” she pauses. She’s sitting on the edge of the seat, and when she leans forward, Asuka can actually see Mari’s eyes shaking with pure joy, “and your scent.”

            Asuka leans to her right to gains some distance in between the two of them. Forcing a thick lump down her throat, Asuka can feel her heart pounding inside her chest, the sound of it ringing inside her ears. Though, as her thought process begins to turn its gears, she makes a foul expression. “Wait a fucking minute, what the hell do you mean by my past? Just who the hell are you?” Asuka’s thoughts begin to run around inside her head, the pain returning back to her body.

            _Just who the hell is Mari?_

            “I’m just another EVA pilot like you, there’s nothing special about me. Just who the hell are you?”

            Asuka can feel Mari’s eyes twitching in amusement as she watches Asuka smother herself in a cocoon of miserable thoughts. Asuka can feel her eyes piercing into her flesh – her head as she unwraps every single layer.

            She grits her teeth together.

            Raising her head, Asuka can feel her eyes holding a pit of emptiness inside them, and she can see Mari in the corner of them. She can see that her mouth is open, wanting to say something, though she doesn’t in the end.

            Asuka can feel her thoughts pounding inside her head, one slow memory pouring into her after another, immediately drowning her as the seconds pass by. It hurts so much, it hurts every single cell inside Asuka’s body, and she can’t stand it.

            Silence settles in the air between the two as the minutes pass by. Asuka can only hear her heartbeat pound, the sound of it thrashing through her eardrums. It’s giving her a massive headache which is only making things worse, though, she immediately feels as pain slowly disappears through her head. It stops by the sound of soft humming – Mari’s humming. Asuka’s thoughts begin to calm down, the humming soothing her nerves. Veering her eyes over to her, she finds Mari resting her head on a fist, her arm resting against the arm of the chair.

            _Tch._

            The humming itself is soothing, but unfortunately, it’s beginning to make Asuka uncomfortable. It’s the only sound in the room, nothing else, the dead atmosphere between the two makes her breathing quickens and slows, and the pacing of it is completely off. Sucking in a deep breath, she slowly lets it out through her nose. “How long as I asleep?” She mutters, making Mari raise her eyebrows. She turns and looks at Asuka, their eyes not meeting. Asuka bites her lip once the humming stops, the pain returning back to her head.

            Clearing her throat, Mari bites the tip of her finger, obviously sorting out her thoughts. “Hmmhm, let’s see. If I’m able to remember correctly, you were already in quarantine for three days once I arrived, then another two weeks passed. Once everything was settled down and we organized everything, you were put under cryosleep in the conditions we were in. They put you in cryosleep for nearly three weeks, taking you out once we obtained this ship. You’ve been sitting in this hospital bed for nearly a week.”

            “What exactly happened that had me knocked out for nearly two months?” Grunting, Asuka leans further into her bed, her hands rubbing at her eyes. Her head is starting to hurt again, along with her body, along with everything.

            Mari leans forward, sitting on the edge of her seat again. “You weren’t listening to her, were you?” She softly asks, carefully looking at Asuka.

            “Bullshit,” she spits.

            “What’d she say then?” Mari asks, a quiet laugh escaping her mouth.

            “Just what Angel attack destroyed everything?” Asuka says, avoiding the question and asking her own.

            Her wide grin is visible to Asuka, and she watches as Mari leans back into her seat. Tapping the side of her face, she starts to chew on her lip, her eyes still on Asuka. _Hmmhm, I shouldn’t tell her that I piloted Unit 02, should I? Oh man, this is a tough decision! I shouldn’t because everything is going so well and it’d just ruin all of the fun I’m having right now. I should because she’s interesting and maybe if I ruined something, things just may turn exciting._ “The Tenth Angel attacked, causing a big party for everyone. Even if there were two EVA’s, it wasn’t very exciting until puppy boy came and showed off. Once that happened, he and his loved caused the Third Impact, ugh it was so romantic.”

            _Tch._

            “That’s just great. He has to ruin everything, doesn’t he? How many people did he get killed this time? I bet he was enjoying every single fucking second of it. He gets to do anything that we wants, such a goddamn brat. It makes me so fucking frustrated.” Asuka spits, her teeth gritting against each other. She’s trembling, trembling with so much anger that’s boiling through her blood.

            _Yes. This feels good. This feels good to have anger seething through me._

Mari tips her head to the side, carefully watching Asuka with interest. “I have to give him credit though, he managed to cause damage to the entire place after everything we did. There was already enough damage done with the two EVA’s.”

            Asuka makes an expression, her jaw dropping. “Wait a minute, that’s three EVAs.” She can see Mari’s grin widening. “That’s not possible, is it? We don’t have a third EVA Unit that someone can synchronize with, do we?”

            Mari bites her lip, shrugging her shoulders. “We didn’t at the time, but I sure can synchronize with an empty EVA.”

-

            A sudden heavy beating against the door immediately makes Asuka jump, making her wake up. Groaning, she peeks with one eyes at the clock.

            09:34 A.M.

            There’s another beating against the door. Closing her eyes, she shoves her face back into the pillow, wanting to drown out the noise.

            “Come on and wake up Princess, you’ve had plenty of days’ rest, time to take a peek inside the EVA again!” Mari yells, her voice sounding muffled by the thickness of the door.

            Turning her head, she lays on her cheek, her narrowed eyes staring at the door. She knows for a fact that Mari can feel her glare through the door.

            _Where the hell did the nickname ‘Princess’ come from?_

She can hear a faint laugh from the opposite side and the sound of it makes Asuka sit up, her legs quickly swinging to the side of the bed. “Leave me alone Mari,” she yells.

            Mari.

            Asuka made an expression as she repeated the name in her thoughts. She didn’t like the sound of it escaping off of Asuka’s tongue, she needed another name of her.

            “Oh you know that I just can’t do that! I must stay true to my words, and be loyal to the Royal Highness.”

            _Tch._

            She stands up on the side of her bed and faces the door. “Stop with the bullshit, I just want you to leave me alone.” Asuka says, her hands on her hips, and her eyes glaring at the door. She doesn’t hear a peep from Mari, and she definitely doesn’t hear her footsteps walking away. Finally after minutes, Asuka gives into defeat with a heavy sigh. “Okay fine, I know you’re standing there, and I know you’re going to continue standing there until I come out. Go ahead and come on in, the door is already unlocked.” She loudly says, her voice obviously showing signs of irritation.

            She can imagine a smirk on her face. Mari, truly the biggest idiot in the world to have told Asuka that she piloted Unit 02.

            “Oh, is this truly happening or is this a dream?” There’s a fine click as the door swiftly opens, and Mari carefully steps into the room, her eyes wide with excitement. “I feel so honored to step into your room Princess,” she says through her wide grin.

            Asuka can feel her heart stop as she witnesses that smile of hers. Their eyes meet for a split second before Asuka is able to come back to her senses, quickly giving Mari a cold glare. “Can you not?” She snaps, walking towards the bathroom. She can feel Mari’s eyes watching her, her eyes glued to her body as she walks. Now standing in front of the sink, she grips the sides of it as she leans down, her eyes slowly closing.

            _Anger. I need to choose anger. It’s such an easy emotion that I’m used to._

            “I think it suits you,” she replies. Asuka can hear a plop which makes her peek out of the bathroom at her.

            Mari’s laying on her bed, her arms and legs tangling themselves with her sheets. Mari inhales a deep breath, taking in the thick scent of everything. _Even if she hasn’t been in an EVA, I can still smell the scent and it’s even better than before._

            Asuka’s eyes widen as she watches Mari rummage her entire body through her own bed. “Can you seriously not?” She scolds, letting out a mixture of a groan and a grunt, fully knowing that Mari ignored her and is continuing to dig herself into the sheets. “Also, stop calling me that, I think it doesn’t.”

            Turning back into the bathroom, she turns on the sink. She sighs out of relief as the feeling of the water runs over her fingers, not realizing that it’s even cold. She feels her ears twitch when she hears the soft laughter from the idiot in her bed. “Hmhm, whatever you say, I’ll do anything you tell me to do, Princess.”

            “Don’t,” Asuka warns, her voice low, though she’s sure that Mari can hear her over the water. Grunting, she can feel her irritation level rising by every word that Mari’s saying. “I’ll kick you out if you don’t shut up.”

            “You’re ruining all of the fun,” Mari mutters. Asuka takes another peek out from the bathroom to find her laying on her stomach, her head perching on her one of her hands while the other draws circles with her finger.

            “Yeah, you should probably get use to that feeling.” Mari moves her eyes from the bed towards Asuka, their eyes locking onto each other’s, there’s a small smile forming on Mari’s lips. Grunting, Asuka tears their eyes apart and she turns back to the sink again.

            Watching the water run through her fingers, she can hear the start of a hum from Mari, the sound of it beginning to drown out the noise of the running water. Asuka abruptly shuts the bathroom door out of anger at herself and at Mari, but it helps block out the melody – blocks out the stupid idiot laying in her bed.

            _Tch._

            The coldness of the water begins to make her fingers numb, she doesn’t feel anything now – she can’t. Gritting her teeth, she inhales a sharp breath, her eyes still glued to her hands.

            “Why did I even let the idiot into my room? Just because she’s my partner – wait no – she’s not my goddamn partner, she’s a no one.” Asuka drags a hand down her face, a soft groan escaping her mouth. “Oh my god, what am I even saying?” She mutters to herself. “Okay, she’s a no one, I’m definitely sure of that. Whenever we get into a combat, she’s going to be dead weight on my shoulders. She’s going to be pulling me back, she’s going to be slowing me down. If I worry about her the result is going to get killed. I don’t need her, I don’t need anyone.” Asuka can feel – she can hear her own heart pounding in her chest.

            Sighing heavily, she turns the knobs of the sink, her empty eyes watching the water drain down the sink. Retracting her hands from the sink, she raises her arms to pull the tank-top off, her body slowly being exposed. Gently letting go of it, she watches it fall to the floor by her feet.

            Her eyes slowly moves upwards until they’re staring straight into the mirror, her eyes looking at her body. “What am I doing to myself,” she quietly mutters, her eyes fluttering as they turn away. She bends down and picks up a red shirt off the floor, and gently pulls it over head her head. There’s no need for a bra, she’s about to put on a plug suit. Wiggling her hips, Asuka pulls up a pair of shorts, they come to the middle of her thighs. Slowly, her eyes veer back to the mirror, her eyes deeply staring at her red shirt.

            She can feel the memories flood back into her head, the pain quickly returning. Groaning, Asuka shuts her eyes and leans her forehead down to rest on the edge of the sink. She holds the position for slow minutes and her grip on the sink tightens by each minute.

            _No, stop, why are you killing me stupid Shinji? What’s happening, no! Stop it! Stop tearing me apart!_

Asuka grits her teeth.

            _I want you to get her out of quarantine, we can’t let NERV keep her. I do not care if she’s in critical condition, if we want to survive we need Asuka with us. This is a command, get her out of there right now._

            Her grip tightens.

            _Oh is this her? I can’t wait until she finally wakes up, I’m excited to experience the adventures we’ll have together as partners._

She clenches her jaw, her eyes opening to look down at the floor. Her grip weakens and she feels her breathing becoming slow. “Get out,” she softly says. “Get out of my head, I don’t want to hear these voices, stop it,” she mutters, her voice almost a desperate cry. There’s so much pain from her head, from her mind, from herself.

            There’s a sudden knock on the door.

            Asuka jumps, a gasp barely escaping from her mouth.

            “You’ve been in there for twenty minutes,” Mari’s voice softly says.

            Mari’s standing on the other side of the door though it felt like she was whispering right in her ear. Releasing a heavy breath, she straightens herself up, her mind focused on trying to calm down her heart.

            “You okay?” Mari asks, her voice so gentle and quiet.

            Asuka doesn’t say anything.

            She can hear Mari softly sighing, the sound of makes Asuka’s heart drop. “Well you better hurry up otherwise she’s going to be angry with you. It’s been forever, I don’t suppose you want to keep Unit 02 waiting much, do you?” Mari quietly laughs and it makes Asuka’s heart beat to life. “I’ll be outside the room waiting for you.”

-

            Mari feels her eyebrows twitch with amusement, her expression softening as she watches her partner climb into the cockpit of the EVA. She leans on the railing of the wing, her eyes looking up and down at Unit 02. _She’s just now getting the gist of things, what should I expect from her? She’s been through a lot, hell, we’ve all been through a lot. Even if most of her files were marked and cleared, there were some pretty interesting information._ Once seeing the red light signal everyone, orders begin to ring left and right, all from Misato’s mouth. Releasing a slow breath, Mari turns around and makes her way to the dock upstairs for a better view. She peeks her head into the room with a curious expression, noticing everyone’s working on the edge of their seats.

            “LCL is fully flooded, she’s soaked.”

            “Activation sequence is cleared!”

            “Good, start her up.”

            Mari feels interest take her, a wide grin on her lips as she feels the dark devil lingering inside her eyes as they look around. Her grin twitches once she hears Misato commence the start of the operation. “Asuka, can you hear me?”

            “Loud and clear. Goddamn, I don’t remember the volume being so high, it’s so loud.”

            Her smile softens and she lets out a gentle laugh while Misato smacks her forehead and lets out a heavy breath. “Okay, you haven’t been in Unit 02 in a while, so we’re going to go a bit slow. Take it easy, we’ll start off with the simple tests because we’re under constricted situations, but let’s see how our modifications to your EVA is handling them.”

            “What the hell? This isn’t my first time being in an EVA, you know.”

            The corners of Mari’s smile widens.

            “It’s just for precaution,” Misato calmly states, crossing her arms.

            _Tch._

            “Precaution my ass, and what’s this talk about making modifications to this baby?” Asuka hisses.

            Misato turns away from the screen, ignoring the questions, her eyes looking around. “Let me hear what I want people, come on.”

            “All levels are stable.”

            “How is she doing so far?”

            “All readings throughout her body and brain are matching.”

            “Her brain,” Mari mutters. She tips her glasses back onto her nose, her eyes carefully reading Asuka’s charts once they pop onto the screen, they immediately bring back memories when she went through Asuka’s archives. “Hm, I wonder if anything might happen like that today, who knows?”

            “How’s her synchronization ratio doing?”

            “78 percent and rising. In her state, she’s barely holding onto a green light.”

            Mari looks at Misato in the corner of her eyes, watching every movement she does. Everyone obviously knows about Asuka’s conditions and has clear memory of what’s happened to her, and they’re on the very edge of their seats, waiting for the words to escape Misato’s mouth. Turning her head, Mari looks directly at Misato, their eyes are slow to meet. She can feel her heart stop when she sees Misato’s mouth open – Mari grits her teeth. “I want you to put your plug suit on, if anything happens it’s-“

            “For precaution, got it.” Mari says, forcing a smile. She’s definitely caught off guard by the order, by the idea that Misato doubts Asuka. Clenching her hands into fists, she quickly trots away, light on her heels as she leaves the deck.

            Shrugging her shoulders, Mari arrives on the deck in her plug suit as told minutes later. “My boobs feel funny,” she mutters, looking down at them. Her plug suit makes them look beautiful, but there’s an odd feeling lurking in her chest. Watching as the door opens, she climbs into her EVA’s cockpit, eager and excited. _♪_ “I’m going in, I won’t miss my moment!” _♪_ She quietly sings to herself, positioning herself in the seat. Sucking in a deep breath, Mari feels as the LCL flows into the cockpit, the scent lovely as she remembered.

            “Unit 08’s plug is injected, LCL is successfully flooded, she’s red light for soaked.”

            It’s _so_ loud.

            Mari winces at the thundering voice, realizing Asuka may have been right about it. It’s been a while since Mari’s been inside this EVA, maybe they did modifications to hers too? Maybe. Unit 08 is a completely new EVA that the crew just got their hands on, and once they had retrieved it, it wasn’t in any condition to do anything, but with Mari piloting it, she could manage.

            The three way linked voice channel turns on when Mari opens her eyes.

            “Okay Asuka, you just cleared levels one through five, we’re going to turn it up five more levels, got that?”

            “What do you think? Of course I got it, it’s as if you’re insulting me.” Asuka snaps.

            Mari smirks. “Oh? Am I finally able to witness a challenge for the Princess? She’s finally in action? Hmmhm, well maybe not action, but it’s better than seeing you lay in bed all day.”

            She can hear Asuka mutter faint curses. “Shut your goddamn mouth four-eyes,” she spits, her voice cold as always.

            Mari’s grin widens as she shrugs the comment off. “Four eyes? Now that’s dull Princess,” she says through a chuckle. “Just like your personality,” Mari adds under her breath.

            “What was that? I heard you say something else, why don’t you say it louder so I can kick your ass.” Asuka growls, her voice low.

            “Nothing nothing.”

            _Tch._

            “Unit 08’s systems are all good, her readings are green light. She’s locked and loaded, Mari you can sit tight until further orders.”

            “Alright, alright,” she softly says, leaning back into her seat. _Oh man, I forgot how comfortable these were._ Extending her legs, she sets her feet on the left handle, stretching her body out. Biting on her finger, she hums a quietly melody to herself, carefully listening to the conversation between Misato and Asuka. Though, becoming bored with her humming, she feels her lips twitch into a smile.

            _♪_ “You haven’t seeenn it all, come on and seeeee it! I wanna see it, don’t hiiddeee from mee!” _♪_ She sings, a grin on her lips.

            “Oh my god, you even sing? That just makes thing worse.” Asuka mutters. Mari can hear her rolling her eyes while groaning.

            Ignoring the remark, she decides to close her mouth. Mari lets the silence settle in the air, dragging out the quiet and slow minutes.

            She continues to sit in silence, her ears continuing to listen, though there’s honestly nothing to listen to. Nothing important – nothing exciting is happening, only a tedious conversation. More quiet minutes pass and Asuka continues to clear levels, her frustration growing on Misato. It’s too quiet, and this quietness doesn’t suit the air around her, Mari doesn’t like it. Feeling her eyebrows crease, she bites her bottom lip. She can feel something, something lingering around somewhere that’s leaving a hunch in her stomach. Careful to not ignore it, Mari breathes softly as she leans her head back, crossing her legs and closing her eyes. The noise around her slowly drowns as she quietly hums to herself.

            “She’s red, her signals are beginning to read red!” A voice yells.

            Mari’s eyes instantly open.

            “Asuka!” Misato screams.

            “Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up damnit! I’m going to kill him, I can see him, and I’m going to kill him. He’s such a goddamn brat!” Asuka screams, her voice shaking with rage. Suddenly everything begins to shake around Mari, it’s a rampage, Unit 02 is on a rampage. Why do memories have to be so triggering?

            Mari bites down on her tongue, her legs still crossed on the controls. She listens on the other side of the link way, to the woman’s annoying voice.

           “What’s happening?” Misato asks.

            “We don’t know, it’s all happening inside her head, we can’t do anything about it!”

            “This is dangerous, her sync ratio’s increasing by twenty percent!”

            “Eject her plug, get her out of there!”

            “We can’t, the system isn’t responding to us, code red is increasing!”

            “Eject the cable, do not let her increase even more. Shut off all power!”

            “The core system is malfunctioning, it isn’t responding to us, there’s nothing we can do!”

            “Eject the cable.”

            “What? But that’s the only thing keeping her intact, if we cut it then we have no way of stopping her.”

            “I said to eject the cable.”

            Mari begins to chew on the tip of her thumb and she straightens herself in her seat, now listening in on Asuka’s channel. “I’m going to kill it, I’m going to kill him, I’m going to kill them, and I’m going to kill everyone.” Mari calmly watches in front of her as Asuka’s EVA cracks the walls and glass in the facility that’s holding her, metal beginning to fly everywhere. It comes to a stop, but only for a second. “No! Stop, I don’t want to remember these memories, get out of my head!” The arms of Unit 02 raises, its hands grasping the sides of its head.

            “Her umbilical cable is out, you have four minutes to keep her occupied.”

            There’s a faint smile on Mari’s lips.

            “I don’t want you in my head!” Asuka screams.

            Without a second to waste, Mari immediately grips the controls, her teeth gritting against each other. “Then let me in,” she softly says, lunging forward, Unit 08 now joining in.

            “Mari do-“ Misato starts.

            “Alright, alright, that’s enough from you,” Mari quietly says, quickly cutting off the link way. “I don’t want to hear anything besides her at the moment, and no worries, it’s nothing personal or anything.” She breathes out, her grin widening. “Well, it actually is, sorry.”

            Asuka’s screaming is the only thing she can hear, her agony and cries.

            Unit 08 finally is able to enter some sort of combat.

            Pushing the controls forward again, Mari rushes Unit 08 through the deck and towards Asuka, breaking the wall as she enters where Unit 02 is. There’s tight space in the room, but Unit 08’s hands manage to make a quick grab towards Unit 02’s wrists as they both collide into each other. They’re both struggling against each other, though Unit 02 gains force when she uses a back foot as leverage to push forward. Her heart stops when she hears Asuka’s ear piercing cries, her eyes fluttering at the sound of it.

             “Stop it!” Asuka screams.

            Mari doesn’t say anything, for once, she can’t and doesn’t want to. All she does is tighten her grip on the wrists, desperately trying to force Unit 02 onto its knees.

            _Tch._

            Her eyes widen when she sees Unit 02 bring its right knee upwards, immediately puncturing into Unit 08’s chest. Mari bites down hard on her tongue, feeling hot thick blood dance in her mouth, it was one fucking hard hit, but it wasn’t enough to make Mari budge.

            “Talk about cheap, that’s a new pilot alright. Get out of my way!”

            Asuka’s EVA, Unit 02, was specifically built for combat, and definitely has far more powerful than Mari’s EVA. It honestly shouldn’t stand a single chance against Unit 02, especially since they just recently recovered it, but it’s doing enough to keep Asuka occupied. Mari and Unit 08 can’t exactly do anything against her partner in this situation, but keep her grip tight, to keep her distracted – to calm her down.

            Gritting her teeth, Mari tightens her grasp even more, a tingle quickly shooting up her arms. All of a sudden, she’s brought back to reality when Unit 08 is off balance, leaning forward, and Mari realizes that Unit 08 brought its arms into its chest, stretching out Unit 08’s arms. At the same time, Asuka takes the chance to raise her leg to kick a full hit at Unit 08’s right ribcage, the impact making Mari wince. Quick on its feet, Mari watches Asuka swing its other leg to deliver another swift blow to her left side.

            Unit 08’s arms are still stretched out in front of it, and through mumbling curses, Mari’s grip remains tight.

            It takes seconds for her to regain her breath and situate herself, she’s never been too good with close combat, this is exactly why she prefers a gun in her hands, rather than to use her hands. Panting with heavy breaths, she looks at Unit 02 with excitement filling her entire eyes. “Not bad Princess,” she mumbles.

            _Tch._

            Mari’s hands continue to grasp Unit 02’s wrists, the distance between each other closing in by the seconds. Unit 02 tucks its hands into its chest, making Mari take a step forward. Holding an elbow out to the side, Unit 02 quickly swings it at Unit 08’s head, Mari feeling the hit. Wincing, she watches as Asuka repeats the same motion with the other elbow, though Mari’s quick enough to dodge it.

            Widening her eyes, Mari releases the trip on its wrists, and brings Unit 08’s arms down. She pushes the controls, Unit 08 takes a step forward, its arms immediately wrapping around Unit 02’s body. The force of the collision pitches the both of them towards the wall. Unit 08’s head is tucked under Unit 02’s arm, her arms wrapping around Unit 02’s lower chest, Mari’s grip extremely tight.

            There’s hits from Unit 02 from all four limbs, puncturing into Unit 08’s back with its elbows, quick repetitive hits into Unit 08’s chest with its knees, hit after hit, from its elbows to its knees.

            Sucking in a sharp breath, Mari lets out a cough from the back of her throat. “It hurts, it hurts so much,” she mutters, feeling each hit become more powerful. Asuka’s screaming into her ears, and it only adds more to the pain shooting through her body. “But – “ Releasing a slow breath, she grins widely, her eyes beginning to shine. Tightening its muscles in its arms, Unit 08 slowly raises Unit 02’s body off the floor, the weight of its body resting on Unit 08’s shoulder. “– it’s so much –“ Once Mari has enough room, she immediately slams the body of Unit 02 onto its back, the impact breaking the floor. “– fun!”

            She can hear Asuka groaning out of pain while Unit 08 places its knees on both sides of Unit 02, now sitting on top of the EVA’s chest, pinning it against the floor. Immediately, Asuka desperately tries to swing a punch at her, but it’s pointless. Mari’s body relaxes as she slumps in her seat, listening to the loud thud of Unit 02’s arms falling to its side.

            She hit her time limit, and it hit just in time too.

            “You’re dead to me,” Asuka quietly says.

            “But we’re partners for life Princess,” Mari replies with a faint laugh.

**Author's Note:**

> their relationship with each other is something I really enjoy writing. I tried to do justice to the way the EVA's are controlled and stuff


End file.
